China: Paper Wife

Paper Wife

by Laila Ibrahim

      I've stalled in writing this post because I'm disappointed in my choice for China.  There are So Many Amazing Books Set in China!  And instead of one of those powerhouses, I chose one that was simply light and entertaining.  After all of the struggling I've done to find a book set in tiny countries where there isn't much to choose from, in retrospect I wish I had chosen better for China.  So I've hemmed and hawed about whether I want to pick something else and read two China books, but in the end, I decided I still have a lot of countries ahead of me so will chalk this up to a good lesson learned and pick more wisely with the next country where there is a plethora of options.

     All of this said, Paper Wife, by Laila Ibrahim, was enjoyable, and I would recommend it to other readers.  The story begins with a twist of fate that leads Mei Ling to a life she never wanted and couldn't possibly have imagined.  It was the life intended for her elder sister ... marriage to a wealthy, Chinese merchant who had immigrated to American and returned for a traditional wife to help him raise his young child.  When her sister becomes ill on the day of the wedding, the matchmaker persuades Mei Ling to stand in her place in order to avoid shaming her family.  And after presenting the false identity of her sister to her new husband, she goes on to assume another false identify ... that of her husband's first wife, in whose name all of the immigration papers had been filed long ago.  She is thus a "paper wife," not able to truly be herself, but instead required to memorize and assume as her own the details of the first wife's life, which had been compiled in a thick notebook for her to study during the long journey across the ocean.

     Arriving in San Francisco, Mei Ling quickly learns that Kai, her earnest husband, is also not who he had claimed to be either.  He is neither wealthy nor a merchant, but over time, Mei Ling sees that he is gentle, kind, and determine to please and care for her.  With Kai's two-year old son, they soon become a happy little family, making the most of their meager subsistence, happy in the sweetness of their loving partnership.  The only thing missing is Siew, the young girl who befriended Mei Ling on the long journey but had disappeared into the city with her uncle once the ship reached the shore.

     As Kai and Mei Ling begin to search for Siew, they become embroiled in a dangerous, life-threatening situation involving Siew's "uncle," who brought her to the United States in order to pay off his own debts by selling her into prostitution.  The novel sheds light on the desperation, vulnerability, and extremely harsh reality of being a Chinese immigrant in the 1920's.  The most endearing part of the book was the sweet love story between Kai and Mei Ling, their devotion to each other and to the children who make up their blended family.